We also outlined  four key business strategies that can be supported by flexibility in the organization.  These are:  

1-Employee Attraction and Retention

2-Improved Productivity

3- Improved Customer Service and Satisfaction

4- Effective Operational Management

This third posting will cover the last two strategies.   Why are these strategies key to a business case for building a flexible work culture?…….or said another way…… How will flexible work cultures actually help to accomplish these business strategies?

Improved Customer Service & Satisfaction
Flexibility can improve client service in a variety of ways that include extended hours, deeper bench strength, improved employee engagement and improved back up service. When customers need extended hours of access to service providers this does not always mean that the hours need to be served by one person. Flexibility promotes stronger service by the team as a whole. Putting flexibility in place regarding work hours can be an improvement for customers and teams simultaneously.  This pertains to internal and external customers.  With a little planning and good communication, a flexible work culture can extend the amount of hours we are available to our customers and the quality of that response. For example, a team can agree that one individual desires to begin work very early in the morning and wrap up late afternoon while other team members prefer to begin work late morning and wrap up in the evening. With both of these team members covering customer communication- the customer is covered for a 14 or even 16 hour day on a regular basis while still matching the desired work hours of those on the team.  Multiple time zone issues are also impacted positively by these arrangements.  Flexibility creates a powerful productivity enhancer and barrier to exit within the team while simultaneously improving customer service and building stronger continuity and relationships. In addition, the team members share customer coverage and communication and develop stronger skills for future advancement. If there is turnover in the team at some point, the relationship with the client does not rest in the hands of one person. The team relationship protects the customer relationship and increases continuity which will directly improve customer retention which is a top concern of many organizations today.  Customer satisfaction and retention is a number one concern according to a 2009 PCPS survey. Serving current customers is much more profitable then acquiring and acclimating to new clients. Customer retention is a significant bottom line issue for all organizations and one that can be improved by well executed flexible work culture efforts. Employee engagement is improved when desirable career components such as flexibility are available. Flexibility fit is a powerful predictor of employee engagement for employees of all ages. Increased employee engagement has been proven in research to predict increased customer satisfaction.

Effective Management
A flexible work culture can positively impact the effective management of an organization which is most significantly a bottom line issue and important component of the business case. Flexibility improves organizational management by impacting the costs related to the peaks and valleys of work flow, both predictable fluctuations such as seasonal changes and unpredictable fluctuations such as timing issues, growing and shrinking practices or markets, sabbaticals and absence leaves. Consider the following scenario. An organization requires a 40% increase in hours to complete seasonal work each month for four months. Company #1 deals with the increase by requiring individuals to increase their hours to cover this gap in hours and may be required to pay overtime as a result.  Organization #2 hires additional resources  who work forty to fifty hours per week to cover these additional seasonal hours. Some of these individuals work part time during other seasonal flux periods, others are completely non active in the slower seasons which works with their family and/or personal life considerations. Other team members make themselves flexibly available in the slow period should any periodic project work arise that requires additional hours over and above those available with traditional staffing. In Company #1 most individuals are required to work significant overtime during the seasonal work period which limits the talent pool that is willing to work with Company #1 and increases turnover and burnout among those who do. The turnover, burnout and stress related ailments increase costs in recruitment, training, medical leave, and health insurance. In Company #2 those individuals with traditional full time schedules in the Firm are not required to work significant amounts of overtime unless they wish to do so. Moderate levels of overtime are compensated properly. Unsustainable levels of overtime are not encouraged as this creates poor role modeling and misconceptions about what is required to advance in the organization. In each individual case, compensation is adjusted accordingly to ensure company metrics are met.

Flexibility enables customized career and life integration design while simultaneously providing depth in staffing for planned and unplanned contingencies. Flexibility is a two way concept. Individuals who are able to access flexibility when desired are very often willing to respond when the organization requires flexibility of them to accomplish business needs and/or meet unusual or unpredictable customer needs. Decisions are not static and therefore morph as individuals move through different stages of their lives. This adjustable model increases the number of years of employee retention which decreases recruitment, and training costs. With a flexible work culture and deeper bench strength, changes in practice/market volume and other volatilities in business are more easily staffed at a lower cost with less negative impact to the customer such as delays or poor work due to stress and burnout.

Conclusions
Building a flexible work culture is a business tool that supports the accomplishment of other business strategies. The business case for flexibility is supported by a deep connection with many common business strategies in play today in most organizations. The business strategies include: top talent attraction and retention from almost all pools of workers, productivity gains, improved client service & satisfaction and improved business effectiveness. It is not difficult for any organization to create a strong business case for flexibility that is tied directly to its primary business objectives in a very specific manner. The organizations that begin to approach the building of a flexible work culture in a determined, systemic, and strategic manner will be building a strong competitive advantage.

mlbennettconsulting.com

The reason: firms rarely can pull off the over the top, unbelievable and unexpected client service that delights. And, most companies lose clients by underperforming on the basic service tenants. So where should we concentrate our efforts?

Here are some shocking statistics from the research:

The Customer Contact Council, a division of the Corporate Executive Board, conducted a study of more than 75,000 people who had interacted with service departments at companies. Here are some key findings:

25% of customers are likely to say something positive about their service experience while 65% are likely to speak negatively. 23% of customers who had a positive service interaction told 10 or more people about it while 48% of customers who had negative experiences told 10 or more people.

80% of the success of service at organizations is based on customer satisfaction scores. However, the finding is that there is little relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. 20% of satisfied customers will leave anyway while 28% of dissatisfied customers will STAY. And customers are 4 times more likely to leave a service interaction feeling DISLOYAL.

The main finding: Delighting customers doesn’t build loyalty. Reducing the work a customer must do to get their problem solved does. It’s the basic service, not the over-the-top, that makes the biggest difference.

To read this HBR article, go to: www.hbr.org/2010/07/stop-trying-to-delight-your-customers/ar/1

It’s amazing how time flies and we don’t realize that we haven’t seen our friends in a few weeks, haven’t gone to the gym in a while, or haven’t had a decent meal to eat because of our busy schedules.

One other thing we forget to do is to say “thank you” to our fellow colleagues or people who help us along the way.

I came across an interesting post and discussion on a Facebook page (PR in Canada) a while ago. It was in regards to saying “thank you” to a journalist for the coverage you receive for your client. I completely agree with this. Sometimes as communications people we are so busy when going through our media/call lists, that we forget to say thank you to the journalists/bloggers that helped make our clients happy.

On the other hand, let’s not forget the PR professionals who help journalists by bringing them the story, interview, etc.; which results in happier editors, publishers and readers. Everyone needs to remember that the work we do affects each other. Keep it polite and professional – always maintain that level of respect. Everyone is doing their job afterall.

This is applicable to anyone, whether you work in communications, law, accounting, medicine, etc. Think about the people you interact with on a daily basis. How many people do we show our gratitude to? Remember to show appreciation to the people who help you out on a project, refer clients to you, etc.  The more we work on this, the better we do in our working relationships and the happier we are at the end of the day in our careers.

If you’ve fallen behind on your “thank yous”, start today. You’ll notice a huge improvement in your mood and your reputation!

When I had an issue checking in to a flight this week, I immediately heard, “You must have entered your frequent flyer number in wrong… You must not have checked in properly… I see here, you didn’t pay a change fee.” But actually a previous agent didn’t complete the transaction properly, and there was no ticket number associated with the reservation. It is like being guilty until proven innocent. It is such a backwards method to customer service.

Are you a blamer or a solver? The first reaction of a greater part of businesses – especially those in service related businesses – is to react to a problem or complaint by assuming that the problem was caused by the customer. That’s why we set up FAQ pages, and often retrace the actions of our customers as a first step to solving the problem. Even if we try not to displace the blame from ourselves, our natural defense mechanisms kick in, and we typically react by deflecting any blame. Unintentionally then, the blame is often placed on the shoulders of our clients and customers.

Instead of taking this blamer approach, try the approach of a solver – listening to the whole problem your customer has, asking questions, checking and then solving – no matter who made the mistake. It seems like smarter business to me.

We are all customers to somebody.  The best way to determine if our customers see us as solvers or blamers, is to consider how we react when something goes wrong with a business working with us. Consider what actions they take to resolve your problem and how it makes you feel. They may think they’re being helpful, while you feel they’re blaming you. For most of us, it is those companies that accept responsibility for the problem that make us feel like our problems are really being listened to and that we are being taken care of.

Are you ready to be a problem solver?

Winning new customers is often easier than keeping them. Not too dissimilar from other types of relationship business or personal you must work hard on the relationship to make sure the other party is content. When it comes to retaining customers, keeping the other party content will directly influence revenue and should therefore be considered as a key objective for the business. Here are 7 ways to retain new customers which I have picked up during the years. Hopefully it will point you in the right direction.

1. Make customer service a business priority

The first steps is the most important in my view because it directly links between the business objectives and the weight given to customer retention. Most types of businesses I know heavily depend on returning business to offset costs involved in winning new business which is eventually how the business will grow. By understanding how important retaining customers is the first step is making this process a key objective.

2. Make this priority transparent across all departments

There is little to be gained if one department acts according to this priority, but others do not share the same importance. To make customer retention work, all departments from customer support to billing and shipping should place customer needs first. A happy customer is likely a returning customer, simple.

3. Diversify your communication tools

The web has not only brought us fast search and easy online shopping, it has also brought us new communication tools. Some customer groups might be using Twitter, some might be using Skype and some still prefer to pick up the phone to hear a voice on the other side. In order to cater for those groups, the business will need to diversify its communication tools as a mean to retain customers.

4. Encourage communication from customers

Hearing from customers often will serve two goals. The first, a mean to keep customers engaged with the brand and the second, a mean to find and address potential problems quickly. To achieve this, consider signing every newsletter with a message asking for feedback, offer an easy way to add comments and product reviews.

5. Stay one step ahead of the competition

Losing parts of the customer base because the competition has outsmarted you happens in business. To minimize this risk, invest in customer loyalty programs, brand loyalty and what I have found most helpful is to constantly diversify product offers and promotions.

6. Stay competitive and relevant

Even the best brand and product loyalty programs will not beat a better deal at your competitor. To retain customers it is essential to keep prices competitive and stay relevant by going with current customer taste and trends. Always be on the lookout for new products and services if you have recognized an opportunity in the market.

7. Stay in touch and actively communicate

Hopefully self-explanatory

What are your tips for retaining customers?

About the Author

Article by Michelle Strassburg Head of Sales and Marketing at hardwood flooring seller Wood and Beyond. Michelle has over 10 years experience managing sales and marketing online.

 The marketing mix contains four elements.  The combination of the four elements is used to satisfy consumer needs and company goals, stimulate consumer interest, and generate sales. 

 1. Product/Service – what are you trying to sell?

2. Price – how much will it cost in contrast to competitors in the market?

3. Place and distribution – where will it be sold and how will it be delivered?

4. Promotion - how will you deliver the message to the market – advertising, public relations, direct marketing, or online marketing?

 By arranging these four elements in a variety of ways, it will help you determine the highest return on investment.  You might have to use a lower price, offer a coupon, and/or give a way a free-gift with the purchase in one market, while pricing the product/service a little higher and using nicer packaging in a sophisticated market. 

 The key to success is to try various element combinations, because it is unlikely using only one mix will generate the results you want. 

A few tips on marketing:

Test, test, and test your product/service in various market segments within your target market

Offer a coupon with the next purchase on one test and use another call to action another test to see which offer generates the best response

Make your business stand out in the crowd by making yourself accessible to prospects and existing customers because most other companies will not

Understand your market’s buying behaviors, needs, wants and give them what they want.

Make sure all marketing material messages are consistent because you don’t want to cause confusion. 

Make sure the product/service’s positioning is not contradictory.

The tone of all marketing materials should be consistent.

A brand’s colors must be consistent.

Test all combinations to see which combination yields the best results.

Make the USP stand out.

If you need designing your marketing mix for your annual marketing plan, email Kristin at km@marquet-communications.com for more information.

Well now Virgin Atlantic is in the spotlight. Passenger Oliver Beale found the inflight food bizarre and gross so wrote a letter to Richard Branson about it (complete with photos) and it is hilarous!

“I know it looks like a baaji but it’s in custard Richard, custard.”

“ I’ll try and explain how this felt. Imagine being a twelve year old boy Richard. Now imagine it’s Christmas morning and you’re sat their with your final present to open. It’s a big one, and you know what it is. It’s that Goodmans stereo you picked out the catalogue and wrote to Santa about. Only you open the present and it’s not in there. It’s your hamster Richard. It’s your hamster in the box and it’s not breathing.”

“Now I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking it’s more of that Baaji custard. I admit I thought the same too, but no. It’s mustard Richard. MUSTARD. More mustard than any man could consume in a month.”

You can read the letter in full here. It, like the board game turned into a big media circus. When the media asked Richard Branson about it he said “I read it and laughed my head off.” He had a great chat with Oliver Beale about it and asked him to help improve their food presentation.

Complaints to your business may not be as epic as these two Virgin stories, but they are just as important. What mechanisims do you have in place to deal with complaints (big and small)? It is something you need to seriously consider before it happens not when it happens. Some companies have fantastic, fast systems and really really go all out for the customer, while others show a really rubbish attitude and try and argue with the customer telling them why they are wrong. It is these places that don’t feel the need to compensate the customer in some way. That attitude makes the complaint even more serious and annoying for the complainer – a defensive attitude from the company is a terrible way to react, and speaks volumes about their business. Think carefully about how your company deals with complaints at every level.

*Do you treat written ones different to verbal?
*Do you react faster when the customer has smoke coming out their ears (and drag your feet when it’s a softly spoken old woman complaining)?
*Is your whole team up with how to handle any complaint?
*Who has authority to compensate the customer?
*How will you deal with future complaints? What actions are you going to take/policies will you change?

I find it very necessary to end with a priceless quote which I shall now use whenever I’m short of something to say…. “Everyone likes a bit of mustard Richard.”

Yesterday I walked to lunch in gorgeous weather for mid-summer—82 degrees, slight breeze—from my perspective it was perfect.  The doorman greeted me, held the door wide open, and said, “Come in, out of the heat!”  He was only being polite, making small talk, but it occurred to me that he had no idea whatsoever that I would not feel about the weather exactly as he did.  To me, it was not hot.  It was just right.

That is often true when we communicate with our prospective customers.  We have a mindset that we know what they need or want, and sometimes we neglect to test our assumptions or, simply, to ask.

Here are some lessons from the restaurant scenario that are applicable to our relationships with our customers—the assumptions that make for bad business:

1.  Assume they know what I am looking for.   I walk into a restaurant whose management assumes I want to be chilly.  So instead of settling comfortably, I am already disappointed. They also assume that I have come in for food, and they don’t understand that if I feel cold it will be hard to enjoy that food.
2. Make it clear that they are being inconvenienced.  If I ask for the thermostat to be raised, someone will argue with me:  “Actually, it’s 72 in here.”  I am therefore supposed to be comfortable.  With a deep sigh:  “I’ll see if we can turn down that overhead fan.”  Sigh.
3. Take no steps to learn.  If they happen to have a customer satisfaction survey, temperature of the room is never an option.  No one is thinking about how my experience could be improved.  They’re only thinking that I am a problem.
4. Assume that I am the only one dissatisfied.  Odds are good that for every patron who complains, several will just eat in silence and fail to return.
5. Don’t solve the real problem.  Given that their patrons have a wide range of preferences regarding temperature, perhaps there could be different temperatures in different rooms.  Or the restaurant could offer shawls to chilly guests, just as airlines used to offer blankets (but no longer do).  Or consider how to separate temperature from air blowers.  Just a thought.

These five principles drawn from my personal experience are useful illustrations of how easy it is to be indifferent to our customers’ preferences.  You have your own set of experiences as well.  What if we draw on our experiences as customers and apply them to the ways that we interact with our customers?  I think it will lead to more powerful customer relationship plans and policies.

What experience have you had that taught you a lesson about customer service?  We’d love to have you post a comment below.

Visit Barbara Weaver Smith online at blog.thewhalehunters.com  or follow me on Twitter twitter.com/whalehunters.

The point of all of this is to reiterate the value of speaking the right language when addressing your audience.   Whether it is another dialect, another industry or another age group, the fact remains that everyone’s experience is better when you speak their language…or at least attempt to do so.   I’d like to think the fact that I happened to be working the front gate added to the positive experience that these folks deserved after paying $10, $15 & even $20 just to walk through the gate.   I’m sure I was a bit of comic relief as well since they never expected those words to roll off my tongue, but they were amenable to listen attentively to my recitation of the rules for entering.  For me, it was a lot of work screaming over the Mariachi’s in Spanglish…but it was worth it.

I remember in the mortgage business the loan officers who constantly used jargon and lingo that would make a poor customers’ head spin…it should just never be taken for granted that someone knows what MIP, or HUD or PMI mean.  It’s just downright nasty to hear all of that in a loan closing.  Most of the time a customer is too embarrassed to tell you to go back and explain because they do not want to look uneducated.  But how many of us get so comfortable in OUR world that we forget to adjust to someone else’s?  It’s probably one of the most important lessons in business whether you’re in sales, customer support or even behind the scenes.  I created a few rules that keep me in check when I veer off onto the Acronymical Highway, (E.C.R.U.’S.):

E – Everyone I interact with—whether co-worker, vendor or client—IS MY CUSTOMER

C – I will utilize the tools and technology provided to me to communicate BEST

R – I am responsible for their experience

U – I will spend the time that is necessary to understand the question in order to provide the correct answer

S – I will speak their language first, and then see how mine fits in

ECRU is not really an acronym; it’s a word meaning, unbleached and raw…just like a simple conversation ought to be.  Obviously if your job is to speak to rocket scientists, this may be a little more complex than a little “keep it simple stupid” rule, but the overall theory works.  Always, always, always speak the language your audience can best hear.  And if your audience speaks a completely different dialect, take a few minutes to learn a phrase or sentence that shows you’ve taken an interest in them.  There are oodles and oodles of translators on google…so have some fun with it.

If I keep my conversations and speaking engagements true to these five simple thoughts, chances are I have kept it on a level that works for my audience.  And at the end of the day, your audience is probably the source of your bread and butter as it is mine, so it’s worth the extra work to find out if they prefer tortilla’s over corn bread!